Sunrise
by QuinSeparable
Summary: Ulrich's not on his game and snaps at Yumi, but the girl knows there's something else bothering him. [one-shot] [Drabble inspired by UlUmi week on Tumblr]


**A\N: This one-shot is in response to itsotpweek's UlUmi week. This week it's UlUmi and the prompt for today (Sunday) is "sunrise". And this is fluff! What the heck? I never write fluff!**

* * *

If there was anything that Yumi hated it was the 3am XANA attacks. She could handle going during the middle of the day or even after classes, but sneaking out of the house that late at night, well early in the morning, was hard; especially seeing as they'd often be on Lyoko for hours. This attack was no exception. By the time Yumi deactivated the tower and got back to earth she'd learned she had been on Lyoko for over two hours. It was nearly 5:30 am. Great.

Ulrich was waiting for her in the scanner rooms when she was devirtualized. The doors opened and Yumi clutched at the walls of the scanner for support. Though the return trips were becoming easier, that didn't mean it still didn't take its toll on her body. Earth's gravity could be such a pain compared to Lyoko's.

"You okay Yumi?" Ulrich had stepped forward, arms outstretched, ready to catch her if need be. Yumi just smiled in response.

"Yeah I'm fine," She didn't take his help but appreciated the gesture. It was nice that even after all these years and all of their misunderstandings, he was still caring enough to offer her his help. "Too bad about that Blok huh?"

The boy looked flustered when she mentioned it. He had been distracted and the simple monster had devirtualized him. Yumi knew he was far from happy but she couldn't help but tease him about it. Especially since he had been bragging not moments before about what a capable warrior he was.

"Shut up," he bristled at the comment.

In response Yumi raised an eyebrow. "Calm down Ulrich, I was just kidding."

"Yeah whatever," came his response. Well crap, she hadn't meant to aggravate him, but then again, he could generally take a joke. Why was he sulking this time?

Casting a sideways glance at the boy, Yumi stepped out of the scanner and took a step around him, moving to the elevator. "You coming?" Her tone was colder than she had anticipated. She heard him sigh heavily and followed her into the elevator, though he stood in the opposite corner that she did. Yumi couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Really? You're going to sulk on me because I made one joke?"

Instead of offering a human response, the brown-haired boy merely grunted at her, keeping his eyes on the floor. _Good god, Stern, stop playing these stupid games with me._

The elevator doors opened and Jeremie stepped inside, standing in the space between the two. "Aelita and Odd are alright. The spectre didn't get their codes so overall it was a successful mission. Nice work with those Tarantulas, Yumi."

"Thanks," she didn't mean to get short with Jeremie, but Ulrich's foul mood put her into one as well. Yumi noticed Jeremie look between the two of them as if trying to figure out what the matter was. Either he knew or he didn't want to know. Probably the latter. By now Jeremie knew better than get in-between Ulrich and Yumi when they were having a disagreement.

They stood in silence for the remainder of the elevator ride and as soon as the doors open, Jeremie practically leaped out of the tense enclosure. Yumi saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. "Hey Aelita…"

She didn't pay attention to the rest of the phone call and instead tried her best not to make eye contact with Ulrich. Even on Lyoko he had acted weird, he had been sulking there too. Whatever the problem was, it wasn't with Yumi. She slowed as they made their way up toward the bridge and Ulrich slowed his pace to keep from meeting up with her. He was purposefully avoiding talking to her, wasn't he?

Oh no, Yumi was going to have none of that. She was far more stubborn than Ulrich was and the girl stopped dead in his tracks. She could see Ulrich sigh visibly and slowly walked up toward her. His eyes stayed on his feet as he walked and Yumi slowed her pace to walk with him.

"What's bothering you?"

"Nothing." His response was sharp and agitated but Yumi knew better. She didn't believe his lie for even one second.

"Liar," she responded. "Was it what I said to you, because honestly it was just a joke. You're a very capable warrior-"

"No," Ulrich's head snapped up and there was a fleeting moment that their eyes met. "No it wasn't you."

"Then what was it?" she asked. "Because if it wasn't me like you claim, then you had no reason to snap at me like that."

"I don't want to talk about it," It was the classic line. Both of them used it all the time and Yumi was very sick of hearing it.

"Well _I_ want to talk about it and with you." She repeated a line he had said to her all those years ago. He had wanted her to talk then and she wanted to talk with him now. He wasn't going to get out of talking to her this time.

"You're really pushy you know that?"

"Learned it from you, Ulrich." Yumi sent a playful elbow in the boy's arm. It was amazing at how much he had grown in the past year. A year ago, when she would have elbowed him it would have landed in his rib cage, not his lower arm. "Now what's bothering you?"

In that moment she watched Ulrich glance up as they made it to the bridge as if to see where Jeremie was. The boy genius was well ahead of them, still on the phone by the looks of it. Ulrich slowed down before he finally stopped walking. Yumi followed suit, waiting patiently for his response.

"Fine. My dad's coming to visit."

It was really all he had to say. Yumi knew very well what type of man Ulrich's father was and he was far from pleasant. Yumi herself hated whenever his dad contacted Ulrich because it sent the boy in a downward slump for days. It was worse when his parents came to Kadic for a visit.

"Sorry Ulrich," came her response. What more could she say?

"Yeah and he's pretty upset that my grades are still in the toilet. You know, in that time XANA was gone I thought I would be able to pull up my grades but it seems that they've just gotten worse! My parents are so angry…"

There was nothing she could say to that. What could she say? Oh it's alright Ulrich, they won't be mad? Your grades aren't _that_ bad. They'll pick up I promise. They'd all be lies – lies that he would see through in a moment. And why would she lie to him anyway? There was no sense in it.

So they stood there a moment in silence, Yumi awkwardly trying to figure out what she could say next. There was nothing. Instead she shouldered him gently and looked up at him. "You'll be fine Ulrich. You always are."

"Yeah…sure….tell that to my father," came his sullen response but he looked down at her. Their eyes met and Yumi smiled up at him which forced a small smile out of him as well.

"It's just because he doesn't realize how important you are," Yumi commented. "I mean I don't see _him_ saving the world do you? Trust me, he'd have to be impressed if he ever saw what a great warrior you are."

His face brightened at that mention and another smile crossed his face. "Thanks Yumi."

"You're welcome."

"Hey! Look!" Ulrich's voice was sudden as he pointed over her shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder and saw it. The sky was lightening up, she had known it was early but didn't realize what time it was. It wasn't that that surprised her though, but the colors that were coming across the sky. Yumi smiled as the light began to reflect off of the water. In all the years she had crossed this bridge she never took the opportunity to stand there and watch the sunrise.

"Wow," she said in response. After a few seconds, she felt Ulrich's arm move and rest behind her shoulders, pulling her in to him slightly. He was quite forward today, wasn't he? Normally she would have slapped his hand away but Yumi would let it slide this time. This time. A pleased smile stayed on her face as the two stood there for a few moments, the pressures of the outside world slipping away. In that moment there was nothing but the two of them and the beauty of the sunrise.


End file.
